Instructor Class Description

Modern China

History of modern China since the beginning of the Qing dynasty, 1644 to the present. Focuses on the major social, political, and economic developments, and on the relationships between ideas and institutions. Topics include the impact of the West and changes resulting from internal causes.

Class description

China is rapidly becoming one of the most important economic and political powers in the world. Students will learn the main factors that have shaped modern China and that will therefore continue to influence the main lines of development in the future.

Student learning goals

Writing

Speaking

Critical thinking

Familiarity with the principal characteristics of Modern China

General method of instruction

Lecture material will be delivered in writing and/or audio podcasts—instead of in the classroom. The time normally spent in the classroom will instead be devoted to Oxford/Cambridge-style tutorial sessions meeting in the professor’s office and lasting approximately 45 minutes. Students will be divided into groups of 5-6 students in each group. Each group will meet with the professor in one of the 45-minute time blocks during the time when the class is normally scheduled. This arrangement means that each student, instead of coming to a typical classroom for a total of 4 hours each week, comes to the instructor’s office for 45 minutes each week. Another model for this kind of learning is the graduate seminar that normally meets once a week. There are two reasons to adopt this method: 1) students learn more by engaging actively in small-group discussions than by listening passively to a lecture in a large classroom, and 2) through one-on-one conversations, the instructor can get a much better sense of what is being learned and what is not being learned by each individual student.

Recommended preparation

Read widely in newspapers and journals, especially the Economist.

Class assignments and grading

The final grade will be based on participation—in a way that demonstrates you have read the assigned readings and prepared for class—in tutorial sessions (25 percent), discussion board assignments and tutorial session quizzes (total of 25 percent), a research project that includes several stages of drafts (25 percent), and a final exam (25 percent).

The information above is intended to be helpful in choosing courses. Because the instructor may further develop his/her plans for this course, its characteristics are subject to change without notice. In most cases, the official course syllabus will be distributed on the first day of class.
Last Update by Alan T Wood
Date: 07/16/2013

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Modified:April 23, 2014